ED to Cardiac Cath???

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I currently have 5 years RN experience, 4 of which have been in the ED. I have my CEN as well as CCRN.Anybody else here made the transition from ED to the cath? Im about to put my bid in for the position. Im not sure if theyll take seniority overy certifications but its worth the shot. Whats it like? I cant imagine it being anywhere near as busy as the ED. Any regrets?What is the typical day of a cardiac cath RN? Thanks!!

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Specializes in EP/Cath Lab, E.R. I.C.U, and IVR.

I moved from the E.D. to the Cath Lab two years ago and love it. For me I do miss the Traumas, shock patients, and some of my friends but the job for me is so much more fun. It can be stressful at times and trust me you will have your share of mega codes during a STEMI or CVS. The call time can get to you if you have to many days on in a row, but the larger labs have more people and less call. A typical day for us is several out-patient caths and several inpatients. Some labs are busier thant others. The hardest thing for me to get used to was sedating on your own. In the ED you would never dream of giving sedation without an order. In most interventional labs they expect the patient to be sedated when they start.

Hope this helps

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wondering how your hospital deals with the inpatient and outpatients? how many cath labs do you have? at ours we have two cath labs and the cardiologists rotate from week to week they will do a procedure and then come up to the floor to round. it does not work well espically when they get stuck in a plasty. wondering how you all deal with that. do you have a rounding physician?

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